


An Unexpected Owl...Err...Bat

by Iptfog



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-09 17:41:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7811194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iptfog/pseuds/Iptfog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Care of Magical Creatures professor Charlie Weasley gets an exciting package.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A basket of puppies

**Author's Note:**

> If you see any plot holes let me know cause I'm kinda winging it.  
> Also I am aware flying foxes are herbivores I'm just choosing to ignore that for this story.

Mail at Hogwarts; majestic owl gracefully descending to deliver letters and gifts to students and teachers breaking their fast. Well, usually. On one particular day in mid april fear-crazed owls desparately dove screaming to land among the students with a hundred or so bites and scratches. During the ensuing chaos few students noticed the enormous golden bat that landed in front of Professor Weasley. Nor did they notice when the large covered basket it carried started smoking.

*

Charlie stared at the bat. A golden-ruffed flying fox. Wizards worked hard to hide their true size and magical nature from muggles, as well as convince them they were going extinct. If one was here that meant..."EVERYONE GET BACK NOW!" He immediately started casting protective enchantments between the basket and everyone else in the room especially the students. Before long he, the bat, and the basket were in a bubble of magic that could withstand giants and dragon fire. He hoped it would be strong enough but he couldn't be sure. He kept his eyes on the bat as he cautiously approached the basket hoping he was wrong and the bat would attack when he got close. If it let him approach he had bigger problems to worry about than a few teeth in his arm. The bat tilted its head as if confused then pointed a wing at him then the basket. "Bollucks."  
He dropped the caution walked up and lifted the cover. He saw six tiny puppies whose color shift from pale grey to black like smoke.  
"Thank Merlin." he said with a huge sigh of relief. Their eyes were still closed they were too young to do more than blow smoke.  
He dropped the protective bubble and looked around to see everyone staring at him.  
"It's okay they're not old enough to be dangerous. Headmistress could I speak with you in your office." Mcgonagall nodded then turned to the students and barked out "Back to your breakfast!" Charlie picked up the basket gently to avoid jostling the pups and made to follow her from the great hall. Charlie saw her reach for her wand when the bat started flying protective circles around them. He murmured a calm "Your fear is just an illusion. Just ignore the bat until I can explain."

*

"You may want to floo Kingsley. I'll need to tell the ministry." Mcgonagall nodded and walked to the fireplace as Charlie sat and the bat settled on the back of the chair."Minister of Magic's office." A few minutes later Kingsley came through.   
The minute he saw the bat he threw up a sheild to stop it from attacking, pointed his wand at the basket and said "Tell me you have experience with them or I swear I'll destroy them international law be damned."  
"Of course I have experience or the bat would never have chosen me as guardian!" Kingsley lowered his wand as Mcgonagall yelled "Will someone tell me what the bloody hell is going on! WHAT is in that basket?!"  
"Hell-Hounds." Kingsley said "I'm sorry but i'm going to let Charlie explain as I now have to inform a couple hundred witches and wizards that the most dangerous creature in the world, which they have no knowledge of I might add, will be setting up a colony in Scotland. And furthermore there is nothing we can do about it without starting a war with four continents." He sighed and stepped into the fireplace.  
Charlie turned back to see Mcgonagall gripping her wand and glaring at the bat. He sighed time for some explanations.


	2. Explanations

Charlie cleared his throat loudly to get Mcgonagall's attention. When she looked at him he began "This is a golden-ruffed flying fox. They are magical creatures that serve as guardians. All guardian creatures have something beyond their physical abilities to help protect their charge. Dragons the guardians of gold have fire. Basilisks the guardians of secrets have their gaze. Golden bats the guardians of life and death have fear. What you are feeling is caused by an aura that surrounds the bat and causes all animals smaller than it to flee in extreme fear. Your animagus is a house-cat therefore you feel the fear but it cannot overwhelm you. You must keep in mind that as long as you do not hurt the pups you have nothing to fear from the bat."  
"But you the bat guarded life and death why is it protecting puppies?"  
"Hell-Hounds are life and death. Life to the marked and death to the living damned. Let me start from the beginning. It's quite a long story so get comfortable.

When each person is born Fate leaves a mark. This mark tells Death when to take them. Thousands of years ago Death decided he had had enough of taking innocent children due to violence and leaving the wicked to die of old age. He sent his Hounds into the world to right these wrongs. Born from a dragon's egg that is pale grey and soft. Each Hound in a litter will seek out a child marked for an early and violent death. The Hound will bond with their chosen and cause an exchange of the marks of Fate. Someone bonded to a Hell-Hound cannot die of anything except old age. The hound won't allow it. Therefore someone Death wishes to claim for their evil deeds dies on the day the child should've and the child lives a long and happy life. The golden bats protect the pups until they are old enough to defend themselves. They also select a shepherd or human guardian to help guide the hounds and their chosen through the seeking and bonding. Golden bats are on par power-wise with dragons and basilisks, but Hell-Hounds make them look like doxies."  
"I find it hard to believe anything could be that powerful. And the bat may be powerful but its no dragon."  
"That bat could kill everyone in Hogwarts in about an hour. A mature Hell-Hound could kill everyone in Europe in half that."   
"If they're so dangerous why haven't people tried to kill them off?"  
"They have. When threatened Hell-Hounds unleash death. The results can be anything from natural disasters to diseases to causing people to simply cease to exist. Pompeii, the black plague, and Roanoke Island are all confirmed to have been caused by someone attacking a Hell-Hound."  
"What did Kingsley mean by colony? And a war?"  
"When a litter is taken from Hell's Gate Sanctuary, wherever they are taken is called a colony. Now that one bat has chosen this area it is more likely that another will also. After the black plague an accord was made stating if anyone tries to remove a Hell-Hound colony it is a declaration of war against every other country that signed the accord or was added later and the Statute of Secrecy is considered null and void. This list includes all of Europe excluding Switzerland, China, Russia, Japan, Australia, and all of North, Central, and South America."  
"So basically of anyone attacks a Hell-Hound it's probably the end of the wizarding world."  
"Pretty much." Just then one of the pups gave a loud whine and Mcgonagall gave such a start she tipped her chair. With her still in it.

*

After Charlie finished laughing and Minerva finished scolding him, she asked why the pup had whined.  
"They're hungry. Yippy!"After the war everyone who had been in the Order of the Phoenix was given an Order of Merlin, a small fortune, and a personal house-elf.Yippy was a calm and affectionate female house-elf who loved animals as much as Charlie.  
She popped into view "Yes, si---" her eyes widened as she saw the bat. "Master has been chosen as shepherd." she said in awe.  
Charlie smiled. "I need my leather nursing bag, warm milk, and fine grey ash." Yippy nodded sharply and popped away. When she returned she had the bag already filled correctly. She handed Charlie the bag and popped away again. Charlie lifted the cover from the basket placed the bag inside and clipped it to the side. He then cast a spell to make it seem as if the bag were breathing. When the pups were all nursing happily he turned back to Mcgonagall.  
"How do you know so much about them?"  
"I found one of their eggs in Romania. I was offered a chance to come and train to care for them. It's a standard invitation to any who find a Hound egg. Then I didn't have the time or money to go but they said it was an open invitation. When the war was over I used the reward money to go to South America. I spent six months at Hell's Gate and two months at each of the three colonies. Each colony is different. The one in Nevada reminded me of a monastery. The one in China believes that the Hell-Hounds and their bonded are to be Death's personal guard and therefore must train hard to be worthy. The one in Canada the Hell-Hound and bonded were search and rescue teams. The thing I'll remember most about that one is the lesson the insist every potential shepherd learn. When a bonded is found check for abuse and don't stop checking until the Hound is fully grown. Believe me it's better if you don't know."


	3. The Finding of the Marked

"How exactly do you go about finding those marked?"  
Mcgonagall asked.  
"It's a little different in each different environment, but I think the best way here would be to call each year by house into the great hall one by one and let the bat test them."  
"Test them how exactly?" Mcgonagall asked coldly.  
"It won't hurt them! What do you take me for?" Charlie replied, offended. "The bat will simply test their ability to resist its fear. The marked will be completely immune and have no idea why everyone else is backing away from the bat."  
"What if there are more marked than pups?"  
"There won't be. Each litter has as many pups as there are marked in their destined area. The good thing about having a colony here is we'll have a few years warning before any major calamity, we'll get a whole bunch of pups."

*

"Alright Gryffindor firstyears, in ya go!" Charlie heard Filch call outside the great hall. He, Mcgonagall, and the heads of house were sitting behind the head table with the pups' basket between them on the floor. The bat sat on the table in front of them watching the students file in visibly nervous. When they lined up in front of the table the bat looked at each one in turn. Each one cowered under its gaze. Mcgonagall sighed in relief. "Thank you please send in the next group."  
"Ravenclaw firstyears!" Filch called. When the first in line saw the bat he paled and started shaking. When the bat looked at him he didn't cower. When the person next to him did he started hyperventilating. Filius ran to his side but before he could get there the boy fainted. Meanwhile the bat continued the testing. Everyone else cowered.  
"Thank you. The rest of you may go. Tell Mr. Filch we'll need about 20 minutes."  
"What's going to happen to Scott?" the girl next to him demanded.   
"Nothing. It seems he has heard something untrue about bats like this. We're going to ask him what he's heard, make sure he learns the truth, and send him to catch up with you." Charlie informed her. Reassured the girl left with the rest of them.   
After an ennervate and a calming draught they asked the child why he was so frightened.  
"The bat marked me for an early death!" he yelled between sobs.  
"No. I don't know who told you that but they are wrong. I will explain in full later but I can assure you that all the bat marked you as is worthy to recieve a gift." Charlie explained.  
"It's true. This is a wonderful thing. It seems to me you only heard part of the story. You aren't going to die, I promise." Filius assured him.  
Scott seemed to trust Filius even if he didn't completely believe him. He stopped crying and left.  
Hufflepuff. Noone. Slytherin. Nope.  
Secondyears. Not a one.  
In thirdyear two Slytherins, twins, just stared back at the bat. This time they simply accepted a we'll explain later and left.  
No fourthyears.  
The fifthyears were just a formality as it was exceedingly rare for a fifteen year old to be chosen. When one of the Gryffindors just stood there under the bat's gaze. Charlie stood up so fast he knocked his chair over.  
"What wrong?" the teenager asked.  
"Everyone else leave. Now." Charle said in a quiet, dangerous voice. When the other students left. Charlie started interrogating.  
"When was your last check-up by a magical professional?" "I don't think I've ever had one." "Is there abuse in your home life and do NOT lie?" "No, my parents never do anything worse than forbid me from leaving the house for a few days as a punishment." "Have you recieved any death threats joking or otherwise?" "No." "Do you have any sort of rivalry with anyone anywhere?" "Not anyone specific. A couple of arguements over Quidditch but not with the same person repeatedly."  
Charlie sent an urgent request for Madam Pomfrey via patronus.  
"Professor what is going on?"  
"You've been chosen to bond with a Hell-Hound. Hell-Hounds only bond with those destined to die a violent death before their sixteenth birthday. Being bonded to one guarantees will live a long and healthy life, but these Hell-Hounds are too young to bond. Until their eyes open you will be guarded at all times. This is not a matter of choice. International Law demands it"  
Just then Madam Pomfrey walked in.  
"Take him to St. Mungoes. Have them run every test they have no matter how obscure and have them set a guard. Tell them to bill it to Hell's Gate Sanctuary on the authority of a Shepherd. They'll understand what you mean. Stay with him at all times. If you run into trouble of any kind send me a patronus and start casting every protective spell you know."  
Her jaw had dropped when he started talking but by the time he finished she realized how serious he was. She grabbed the teenager's arm and marched him through the teacher's entrance wand in hand. They finished the testing without finding another.  
Filius and Charlie went and retrieved Scott while Minerva retrieved the twins as Slughorn had a class to teach. They met at Minerva's office and flooed to St. Mugoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions about how things work or are confused about any thing please ask. I love answering questions.
> 
> Where do you think I should have them find the other two Marked? Hogsmeade? Diagon Alley? Somewhere else?
> 
> Questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome!


End file.
